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REPORT TO THE CONGRESS 



Effectiveness And Administration 
Of The Collbran Job Corps Civilian 
Conservation Center Under The 
Economic Opportunity Act Of 1964 

Collbran, Colorado 


Department of the Interior 
Office of Economic Opportunity 


BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL 
OF THE UNITED STATES 















HD (, z 74 


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COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES 


T> 


Z 


WASHINGTON. D.C. 20548 


vTC'OUM'^' 


B-130515 


To the President of the Senate and the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives 

This is our report on the effectiveness and administration of 
the Collbran Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center, Collbran, 
Colorado, operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the 
Interior, under an interdepartmental agreement with the Office of 
Economic Opportunity pursuant to the Economic Opportunity Act of 


1964 


This report supplements our summary report to the Congress on 
the "Review of Economic Opportunity Programs" (B-130515, March 18, 
1969). Our review was made pursuant to title II of the Economic Op¬ 
portunity Amendments of 1967 (81 Stat. 727). 

Copies of this report are being sent to the Director, Bureau of 
the Budget; the Secretary of Labor; the Secretary of the Interior; and 
the Director, Office of Economic Opportunity. 



Comptroller General 
of the United States 




































































































































COMPTROLLER GENERAL 'S 
REPORT TO THE CONGRESS 


DIGEST 


WHY THE REVIEW WAS MADE 

This report is one of a series prepared as a result of a 1967 law di¬ 
recting the Comptroller General to review programs authorized by the 
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, as amended, to determine 

--the efficiency of the administration of the programs and 

--the extent to which these programs achieve the objectives set forth 
in the act. 

The overall conclusions and recommendations of the General Accounting 
Office (GAO) in response to the above directive are contained in its 
summary report to the Congress .on the "Review of Economic Opportunity 
Programs" (B-130515, March 18, 1969). 

This report, which supplements the summary report, pertains to the 
Collbran Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center in Collbran, Colorado. 

The Center was operated by the Department of the Interior under an in¬ 
terdepartmental agreement with the Office of Economic Opportunity (0E0). 

In February 1969, the President directed that the Department of Labor 
assume the responsibilities of the Job Corps, effective July 1969, and, 
in April 1969, the Secretary of Labor announced the planned closing of 
59 Job Corps centers by July 1, 1969. The Collbran Center was not one 
of the centers selected for closing in accordance with this plan. In 
view of the delegation of authority to the Department of Labor for the 
operation of the Job Corps program, the GAO findings and conclusions 
presented in this report are for consideration by the Secretary of Labor. 


EFFECTIVENESS AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE 
COLLBRAN JOB CORPS CIVILIAN CONSERVATION 
CENTER, COLLBRAN, COLORADO 
Department of the Interior, Office of 
Economic Opportunity B-130515 


FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 

On the basis of its review of a number of conservation centers, GAO con¬ 
cluded that the use of work projects as the primary vehicle for pro¬ 
viding vocational training would not permit the centers to establish 
and operate an effective training program directed toward skill devel¬ 
opment in occupational areas above the helper or laborer categories. 


Tear Sheet 


OCT. 21,1965 













Regarding the effectiveness of the Coll bran Center's program, GAO 
found that: 

--The Center's environment appeared to provide an atmosphere condu¬ 
cive to accomplishing the desired rehabilitation of corpsmen. (See 
P- 17.) 

--The average length of stay for corpsmen who left the Center during 
calendar year 1967 was 5.1 months, and, on the basis of Job Corps 
experience, these corpsmen may not have received sufficient train¬ 
ing to obtain and hold a job at a level above the helper category. 
For fiscal year 1968 and the first quarter of fiscal year 1969, the 
average length of stay of corpsmen was 5.8 months. (See p. 17 .) 

--The effectiveness of the vocational training was reduced because of 
weaknesses that existed in the program, since vocational training 
was provided through on-the-job training in Center work projects 
and the goal of the Center was to train corpsmen to a helper level. 
Also, prior to April 1968, detailed guidelines were generally not 
implemented, nor records maintained, to show the skill areas to 
which a corpsman should be and was exposed or the proficiency re¬ 
quired and attained in specific tasks. (See p. 21.) 

—Of the 195 corpsmen who terminated from the program at the Center in 
calendar year 1967 (exclusive of 27 who transferred to other cen¬ 
ters), only 7 percent achieved the minimum reading and mathematics 
goals. Job Corps data reported early in 1969 indicate improved 
reading and mathematics gains. (See p. 28.) 

--On the basis of a comparison of Job Corps minimum requirements 
for program completion furnished by Job Corps to the conservation 
centers in May 1968 with achievements of the Center's 1967 gradu¬ 
ates, very few, if any, of the corpsmen reported by the Center as 
graduates appeared to have gained sufficient knowledge and occupa¬ 
tional skills to be classified as program completers. (See p. 38.) 

—Not all corpsmen were receiving adequate counseling to assist them 
in choosing realistic career goals. (See p. 42.) 

Regarding the efficiency of the administration of the Center's program, 
GAO found that: 

—Values assigned to work projects in process and to those completed 
were not supported by independent appraisals or separate cost rec¬ 
ords. (See p. 46.) 

--Property excess to the needs of the Center was not promptly re¬ 
ported to Job Corps to facilitate better utilization of the prop¬ 
erty by making it available to other units of the Government. 

(See p. 49.) 


2 


RECOMMENDATIONS OR SUGGESTIONS 

Recommendations for improving the administration of the Job Corps pro¬ 
gram have been made in GAO reports previously issued to the Congress on 
the Eight Canyon, Cispus, and Well fleet Civilian Conservation Centers 
and are not repeated in this report. 


AGENCY ACTIONS AND UNRESOLVED ISSUES 

. 

0E0 questioned GAO's finding that the use of work projects as the pri¬ 
mary vehicle for providing vocational training would not permit the 
centers to establish and operate an effective training program directed 
toward skill development in occupational areas above the helper or la¬ 
borer categories. (See p. 58.) However, the Department of Labor, 
which has assumed responsibility for the operation of the Job Corps pro¬ 
gram, stated that structured vocational skills training would be taught 
on actual training projects and that work projects having little or no 
training value would be abandoned. (See p. 27.) 

MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE CONGRESS 

The matters presented in this report are for consideration by the con¬ 
gressional committees having oversight responsibilities for federally 
assisted anti poverty programs. In view of the interest shown by mem¬ 
bers of the Congress in anti poverty programs generally, GAO is bring¬ 
ing its findings and observations to the attention of the Congress for 
general information purposes. 


Tear Sheet 






















• ■ 














































Contents 

Page 

DIGEST 1 

INTRODUCTION 4 

Job Corps program 5 

Operation at Collbran Center PO 

POTENTIAL FOR JOB CORPS CONSERVATION CENTERS 

TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE TRAINING 14 

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COLLBRAN CENTER’S PROGRAM 17 

Retention of corpsmen 17 

Conclusions ^9 

Vocational training program 21 

Agency action 23 

Conclusions and agency comments 24 

Basic education program 28 

Training program 28 

Reading level of incoming corpsmen 29 

Mathematical skills of incoming corpsmen 31 

High school equivalency program 33 

Achievement testing 34 

Conclusions and agency comments 36 

Uniform graduation criteria to be applied 38 

Agency action 40 

Conclusions and agency comments 40 

Counseling program 42 

Conclusions and agency comments 44 

EFFICIENCY OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLLBRAN CENTER 46 

Appraised value of conservation work projects 46 

Excess property 49 

SCOPE OF REVIEW 51 

Appendix 

APPENDIXES 

Collbran Civilian Conservation Center 

operating costs for calendar year 1967 I 55 

Letter dated August 8 , 1969, from the 
Acting Deputy Director, Office of 
Economic Opportunity, to the General 
Accounting Office II 57 







Appendix Page 


Letter dated August 7, 1969, from the 
Acting Director of Survey and Review, 
Department of the Interior, to the 
General Accounting Office III 

Principal officials of the Office of 
Economic Opportunity and the Depart¬ 
ment of the Interior responsible for 
the administration of activities 
discussed in this report IV 


63 


65 




COMPTROLLER GENERAL'S EFFECTIVENESS AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE 

REPORT TO THE CONGRESS COLLBRAN JOB CORPS CIVILIAN CONSERVATION 

CENTER, COLLBRAN, COLORADO 
Department of the Interior, Office of 
Economic Opportunity B-130515 


DIGEST 


WHY THE REVIEW WAS MADE 

This report is one of a series prepared as a result of a 1967 law di¬ 
recting the Comptroller General to review programs authorized by the 
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, as amended, to determine 

--the efficiency of the administration of the programs and 

--the extent to which these programs achieve the objectives set forth 
in the act. 

The overall conclusions and recommendations of the General Accounting 
Office (GAO) in response to the above directive are contained in its 
summary report to the Congress on the "Review of Economic Opportunity 
Programs" (B-130515, March 18, 1969). 

This report, which supplements the summary report, pertains to the 
Collbran Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center in Collbran, Colorado. 

The Center was operated by the Department of the Interior under an in¬ 
terdepartmental agreement with the Office of Economic Opportunity (0E0). 

In February 1969, the President directed that the Department of Labor 
assume the responsibilities of the Job Corps, effective July 1969, and, 
in April 1969, the Secretary of Labor announced the planned closing of 
59 Job Corps centers by July 1, 1969. The Collbran Center was not one 
of the centers selected for closing in accordance with this plan. In 
view of the delegation of authority to the Department of Labor for the 
operation of the Job Corps program, the GAO findings and conclusions 
presented in this report are for consideration by the Secretary of Labor. 


FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 

On the basis of its review of a number of conservation centers, GAO con¬ 
cluded that the use of work projects as the primary vehicle for pro¬ 
viding vocational training would not permit the centers to establish 
and operate an effective training program directed toward skill devel¬ 
opment in occupational areas above the helper or laborer categories. 


1 






Regarding the effectiveness of the Collbran Center's program, GAO 
found that: 

--The Center's environment appeared to provide an atmosphere condu¬ 
cive to accomplishing the desired rehabilitation of corpsmen. (See 
P- 17.) 

--The average length of stay for corpsmen who left the Center during 
calendar year 1967 was 5.1 months, and, on the basis of Job Corps 
experience, these corpsmen may not have received sufficient train¬ 
ing to obtain and hold a job at a level above the helper category. 
For fiscal year 1968 and the first quarter of fiscal year 1969, the 
average length of stay of corpsmen was 5.8 months. (See p. 17.) 

--The effectiveness of the vocational training was reduced because of 
weaknesses that existed in the program, since vocational training 
was provided through on-the-job training in Center work projects 
and the goal of the Center was to train corpsmen to a helper level. 
Also, prior to April 1968, detailed guidelines were generally not 
implemented, nor records maintained, to show the skill areas to 
which a corpsman should be and was exposed or the proficiency re¬ 
quired and attained in specific tasks. (See p. 21.) 

—Of the 195 corpsmen who terminated from the program at the Center in 
calendar year 1967 (exclusive of 27 who transferred to other cen¬ 
ters), only 7 percent achieved the minimum reading and mathematics 
goals. Job Corps data reported early in 1969 indicate improved 
reading and mathematics gains. (See p. 28.) 

--On the basis of a comparison of Job Corps minimum requirements 
for program completion furnished by Job Corps to the conservation 
centers in May 1968 with achievements of the Center's 1967 gradu¬ 
ates, very few, if any, of the corpsmen reported by the Center as 
graduates appeared to have gained sufficient knowledge and occupa¬ 
tional skills to be classified as program completers. (See p. 38.) 

--Not all corpsmen were receiving adequate counseling to assist them 
in choosing realistic career goals. (See p. 42.) 

Regarding the efficiency of the administration of the Center's program. 

GAO found that: 

--Values assigned to work projects in process and to those completed 
were not supported by independent appraisals or separate cost rec¬ 
ords. (See p. 46.) 

--Property excess to the needs of the Center was not promptly re¬ 
ported to Job Corps to facilitate better utilization of the prop¬ 
erty by making it available to other units of the Government. 

(See p. 49.) 


2 


RECOMMENDATIONS OR SUGGESTIONS 


Recommendations for improving the administration of the Job Corps pro¬ 
gram have been made in GAO reports previously issued to the Congress on 
the Eight Canyon, Cispus, and Well fleet Civilian Conservation Centers 
and are not repeated in this report. 


AGENCY ACTIONS AND UNRESOLVED ISSUES 

0E0 questioned GAO's finding that the use of work projects as the pri¬ 
mary vehicle for providing vocational training would not permit the 
centers to establish and operate an effective training program directed 
toward skill development in occupational areas above the helper or la¬ 
borer categories. (See p. 58.) However, the Department of Labor, 
which has assumed responsibility for the operation of the Job Corps pro¬ 
gram, stated that structured vocational skills training would be taught 
on actual training projects and that work projects having little or no 
training value would be abandoned. (See p. 27.) 


MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE CONGRESS 

The matters presented in this report are for consideration by the con¬ 
gressional committees having oversight responsibilities for federally 
assisted antipoverty programs. In view of the interest shown by mem¬ 
bers of the Congress in anti poverty programs generally, GAO is bring¬ 
ing its findings and observations to the attention of the Congress for 
general information purposes. 


3 





INTRODUCTION 


The General Accounting Office has made a review of 
the activities of the Collbran Civilian Conservation Cen¬ 
ter. This Center was operated for the Office of Economic 
Opportunity by the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of 
the Interior, under an interdepartmental agreement with 
0E0. 


Our review, which was performed for the primary pur¬ 
pose of complying with title II of the Economic Opportunity 
Amendments of 1967, was directed toward an evaluation of 
the effectiveness and efficiency of the operation and ad¬ 
ministration of the Center in meeting the objectives of 
the act. The scope of our review is set forth on page 51. 

In February 1969, the President directed that the De¬ 
partment of Labor assume the responsibilities of the Job 
Corps, and in April 1969 the Secretary of Labor announced 
the planned closing of 59 Job Corps centers by July 1, 

1969. The Collbran Center was not one of the centers se¬ 
lected for closing. 

Effective July 1, 1969, the Secretary of Labor was 
delegated the authority for the operation of the Job Corps 
program. The Director, 0E0, retained the authority to 
conduct overall planning and to perform evaluations of the 
program. In view of the delegation of authority to the De¬ 
partment of Labor, the findings and conclusions presented 
in this report are for consideration by the Secretary of 
Labor. 

0E0’s written comments on our draft report were fur¬ 
nished on August 8, 1969, and are included as appendix II. 
The Department of the Interior’s written comments on our 
draft report were furnished on August 7, 1969, and are in¬ 
cluded as appendix III. We have noted in the applicable 
sections of this report those comments that we consider 
appropriate to a clear understanding of the matters dis¬ 
cussed herein. 


4 



The principal officials of 0E0 and the Department of 
the Interior responsible for the administration of activ¬ 
ities discussed in this report are listed in appendix IV. 

JOB CORPS PROGRAM 


The Job Corps was established under title I, part A, 
of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2701), 
which was amended each succeeding year--the most recent 
amendments having been enacted in December 1967. The 
purpose of the Job Corps is stated in title I, section 101, 
of the act which provides: 

’’This part establishes a Job Corps for low- 
income, disadvantaged young men and women, sets 
forth standards and procedures for selecting in¬ 
dividuals as enrollees in the Job Corps, autho¬ 
rizes the establishment of residential and/or 
nonresidential centers in which enrollees will 
participate in intensive programs of education, 
vocational training, work experience, counsel¬ 
ing, and other activities, and prescribes vari¬ 
ous other powers, duties, and responsibilities 
incident to the operation and continuing develop¬ 
ment of the Job Corps. Its purpose is to assist 
young persons who need and can benefit from an 
unusually intensive program, operated in a group 
setting, to become more responsible, employable, 
and productive citizens; and to do so in a way 
that contributes, where feasible, to the develop¬ 
ment of National, State, and community resources, 
and to the development and dissemination of 
techniques for working with the disadvantaged that 
can be widely utilized by public and private in¬ 
stitutions and agencies.” 

Initially, youths aged 16 through 21 years were eli¬ 
gible to participate in the Job Corps; however, the 1967 
amendments to the act reduced the minimum age to 14 years. 
The act authorizes training for a maximum period of 
2 years. 


5 




The Job Corps centers are of three basic types men's 
urban centers, women’s urban centers, and men's rural con¬ 
servation centers. The Director, Job Corps, directs and 
supervises the Job Corps program and is responsible for 
the objectives, policies, standards, and requirements and 
for the overall program design for the operation of the 
centers. Federal and State agencies and industrial and 
nonprofit organizations under contract with the Government 
are responsible for the operation and the administration 
of the centers. 

Job Corps enrollment is limited by law to 45,000 men 
and women. The 1967 amendments to the act provide that, 
by June 30, 1968, at least 25 percent of the enrollment be 
women and that, as soon as practicable, women constitute 
50 percent of the enrollment. As of December 1968, the 
Job Corps enrollment was about 32,000, of which 9,600, or 
30 percent, were women. Of the 22,400 men enrolled, 12,500 
were assigned to conservation centers. 

During the early part of 1968, 0E0 closed four men's 
urban centers and 11 conservation centers and did not open 
one planned conservation center because of fund limita¬ 
tions. Closures were limited to men’s centers because of 
the requirement that women constitute 50 percent of the 
enrollment. As of December 1968, 0E0 was administering 
six men's urban centers, 18 women's urban centers, and 82 
men's conservation centers. In addition, three special 
centers for carrying out experimental projects were also 
being administered by 0E0. The urban centers, which are 
generally located in or near metropolitan areas, are op¬ 
erated under contracts with industrial or nonprofit orga¬ 
nizations. The conservation centers, which are located 
in rural areas, are principally operated by agencies of 
the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, pursuant to interdepartmental agreements with 
0E0, although a few are operated under contracts with the 
States. 

It was anticipated that corpsmen assigned to a con¬ 
servation center would increase their basic academic 
skills to a point where they could undertake vocational 


6 


training at the urban centers. Vocational training at 
conservation centers was limited to learning the use of 
basic tools, to planning and organizing work, and to ac¬ 
quiring good work habits. Conservation centers were to 
serve as stepping-stones to urban centers. 

Early in calendar year 1966, Job Corps revised its 
policy to provide that vocational training programs de¬ 
signed around the work program would be instituted at the 
Civilian Conservation Centers, primarily to ensure that 
those corpsmen who did not transfer to urban centers would 
be taught some type of marketable skill. 

The Civilian Conservation Center program has evolved 
to where, at present, the goal is that each corpsman shall 
reach at least a minimum level of employability within the 
conservation center to which he is assigned. This policy, 
which was formalized in May 1968, means that participating 
corpsmen will be fully trained for employment, although 
corpsmen are not prevented from transferring to Job Corps 
urban centers or other training programs. 

Recruiting of applicants is performed by private or 
public nonprofit agencies, such as local Community Action 
Agencies which are authorized by Job Corps to recruit and 
refer applicants for screening 0 The screening and inter¬ 
viewing of male applicants for Job Corps are performed 
primarily by the U. S. Training and Employment Service. 
Their applications are forwarded to the 0E0 regional of¬ 
fice which selects and assigns the recruits. 

Prior to November 1968, assignment to a men’s urban 
center or a conservation center was dependent on an ap¬ 
plicant's achievement on a reading test given by the 
screening agency. Generally, nonreaders and beginning 
readers were assigned to conservation centers, whereas 
upper-intermediate and advanced readers were assigned to 
urban centers. Under the revised procedures adopted in 
November 1968, applicants are to be assigned to centers 
closest to their homes, irrespective of their reading 
test scores. Section 106 of the act requires that at 
least 40 percent of the male enrollees be assigned to 


7 


conservation centers or to other centers or projects where 
their work activity is primarily directed to the conserva¬ 
tion, development, or management of public natural re¬ 
sources or recreational areas. 

Job Corps policies provide that the conservation cen¬ 
ters are to carry out a work experience program (on-the- 
job vocational training) in addition to other education 
and vocational training programs. Work experience pro¬ 
grams are based on conservation work projects or center 
operation assignments and are designed to develop positive 
work habits and attitudes and, at the same time, to pro¬ 
vide corpsmen with occupational skills and related knowl¬ 
edge above the helper or laborer entry levels. The centers 
may, on a limited basis, provide specialized vocational 
programs, such as small-appliance repair courses, which 
do not require conservation work projects or center op¬ 
eration assignments. 

Conservation center work projects are designed to 
develop and improve conservation land and projects under 
the supervision of the Department of Agriculture and/or 
the Department of the Interior which maintain the land on 
which the projects are performed. The agencies plan the 
work, and corpsmen are assigned specific tasks. Specific 
projects may include landscaping, forest culture and pro¬ 
tection, water control, irrigation, drainage, erosion con¬ 
trol, construction and repair of buildings and recreation 
facilities, and construction and repair of roads and 
trails. 

Directors of the conservation centers are responsible 
for all activities and for the supervision of all person¬ 
nel assigned to the centers. Under guidelines prescribed 
by the responsible operating agencies, the center direc¬ 
tors supervise the work program, center administration, 
logistics, and other activities for which the agency is 
responsible. Under guidelines prescribed by 0E0, the cen¬ 
ter directors supervise corpsmen's discipline, welfare, 
health, education, recreation, and other activities. 

A Corps member is entitled to an initial regular 
monthly living allowance of $30 and may be given incentive 


8 


increases in $5 increments which, together with the basic 
living allowance, may not exceed $35 a month during the 
first 6 months of his or her participation in the pro¬ 
gram and may not exceed $50 a month thereafter. In addi¬ 
tion, corps members are entitled, upon termination, to a 
readjustment allowance of $50 for each month of satisfac¬ 
tory participation in the Job Corps, subject to certain 
restrictions. An allotment of as much as $25 of the re¬ 
adjustment allowance may be made to a corps member’s wife 
or child, and 0E0 will match the amount allotted. GAO has 
issued a separate report on its review of corpsmen’s pay 
and allowances, entitled ”Selected Aspects of Payments and 
Charges to Job Corps Members" (B-130515, June 30, 1969). 


9 


OPERATION AT COLLBRAN CENTER 


The Collbran Civilian Conservation Center is located 
in Plateau Valley one-half mile west of the small town of 
Collbran, Colorado. The nearest town with a population of 
over 1,000 is Grand Junction, Colorado, which is located 
40 miles west of the Center. Grand Junction, which has a 
population of about 19,000, is served by air, rail, and bus 
transportation companies. The site for the Center was ap¬ 
proved by the Governor of the State of Colorado on Novem¬ 
ber 25, 1964. In addition to about 4 acres of Government- 
owned land, 17 acres of adjoining land was leased from 
private owners for use by the Center. Nearly one half of 
the leased land is made up of fish ponds and is not usable 
for Center facilities. 

The Center, which is designed to accommodate about 100 
corpsmen, received its first corpsman in May 1965. Average 
on-board strength during calendar year 1967 was 95.2 corps- 
men. 


Job Corps policy provided that total time of corpsmen 
at 100-man conservation centers be distributed 40 percent 
to academic training, 40 percent to work experience pro¬ 
grams, and 20 percent to center support activities, such as 
kitchen police and dormitory duties. 

The Center has several transportable units which are 
used as corpsmen dormitories, a kitchen and dining hall 
complex, a complex of classrooms and offices for education, 
and staff housing. Other structures of a semipermanent 
nature provide space for a gymnasium, a dispensary, laundry 
facilities, storage, vocational training, vehicle mainte¬ 
nance, and administration. The gymnasium, nine transport¬ 
able units, four small buildings, and an athletic field are 
located on the leased land. Most of these facilities were 
completed at the time when the first corpsman arrived in 
May 1965. 

An aerial view and a map of the Center follow. 




11 









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n 11 n n n 

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12 


Government owned-ieased lano 



























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0 * 

Section 105 of the Economic Opportunity Amendments of 
1966 required 0E0 to take necessary action to ensure that 
during any fiscal year the direct operating costs of Job 
Corps centers in operation more than 9 months did not ex¬ 
ceed $7,500 per enrollee man-year. Under the Economic Op¬ 
portunity Amendments of 1967, this amount was reduced to 
$6,900 per enrollee man-year. 

Congressional hearings have indicated that the limi¬ 
tation is a nationwide average and includes all direct 
operating costs of the centers--maintenance, food, clothing, 
supplies, and services--as well as the corpsmen's direct 
costs--salary, allowances, and travel. Costs not included 
are those for Job Corps headquarters and regional support, 
agency (Department of the Interior) direction, screening, 
payroll administration, amortization of capital investment 
for center rehabilitation and equipment, work project ma¬ 
terials and supplies, and depreciation of center facilities. 

> 

The Center's direct operating costs per corpsman man- 
year during calendar year 1967, computed on the basis of 
costs compiled by 0E0 as applicable under section 105 of 
the act, amounted to about $7,244, and indirect costs 
amounted to about $2,190 per corpsman man-year, represent¬ 
ing a total cost of about $9,434 per corpsman man-year, as 
shown in appendix I. 

0E0 reported that, for fiscal year 1968, direct oper¬ 
ating costs for the Center amounted to $7,443 and indirect 
costs amounted to $2,628 per corpsman man-year, represent¬ 
ing a total cost per corpsman man-year of $10,071. 


13 



POTENTIAL FOR JOB CORPS CONSERVATION CENTERS 


TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE TRAINING 

In our summary report on the "Review of Economic Oppor¬ 
tunity Programs" (B-130515, March 18, 1969), which resulted 
from our review undertaken pursuant to title II of the Eco¬ 
nomic Opportunity Amendments of 1967, we stated that we had 
considerable doubt as to whether conservation centers could 
be expected to provide the intensive training contemplated 
in the act, at least without substantially upgrading the 
vocational training program, which would probably be quite 
costly. A primary consideration was that conservation cen¬ 
ters generally provided vocational training through the per¬ 
formance of conservation work projects and gave little or no 
related vocational classroom instructions. 

We recognized that conservation work had value in it¬ 
self; that most of the centers had some work projects which 
permitted exposure to some occupational skills; and that, 
in general, work projects were good vehicles for instilling 
proper work habits in corps members. However, the size and 
complexity of the work projects which we reviewed at the 
conservation centers generally were not of a nature to serve 
as a basis for intensive vocational training. It did not 
appear to us that the use of work projects as the primary 
vehicle for providing vocational training would permit the 
centers to establish and operate an effective training pro¬ 
gram directed toward skill development in occupational areas 
above the helper or laborer categories. 

Job Corps and the administering agencies (Department of 
Agriculture and Department of the Interior) of conservation 
centers recognized that weaknesses and deficiencies existed 
in training programs at the centers and jointly considered 
means for improvement. However, our perusal of the require¬ 
ments, prescribed in May 1968 by Job Corps in conjunction 
with these Departments, for improvements in the training 
program, indicated that, to accomplish the minimum require¬ 
ments for program completion in the various occupational 
areas, corps members would need an opportunity to take part 
in intensive classroom-type training and work experience 
programs directed specifically toward development of the 


14 








knowledge and technical skills needed to qualify for employ- 
ment beyond the helper and laborer categories. 


We stated in our summary report that to establish in¬ 
tensive vocational training programs in a number of voca- 

t " on f areas f° r the 100 to 250 corpsmen enrolled at each of 
the 82 centers appeared to be quite costly. Moreover, we 
questioned whether a sufficient number of qualified instruc¬ 
tors could be obtained to provide such training at the gen¬ 
erally remote and isolated conservation center locations. 


In summary, we concluded that it was probable that a 
valid need could be documented for residential training of 
the type envisioned in Job Corps for a certain number of 
youths whose needs, because of environmental characteris¬ 
tics or because of geographic location, could not be well 
served through other programs operating in or near their 
home communities. We expressed doubt, however, that, in 
light of our findings and the cost of this type of training, 
the resources which were being applied to the conservation 


center program could be fully justified, particularly in 
consideration of the significant changes which appeared nec 
essary in this program to upgrade its effectiveness in 
achieving training objectives. 


In accordance with the foregoing conclusions, we rec¬ 
ommended in our summary report that the Congress consider 
whether the Job Corps program, particularly with respect to 
conservation centers, was sufficiently achieving the pur¬ 
poses for which it was created and whether retention at the 
then existing levels was justified. 

The Acting Deputy Director, 0E0, by letter dated Au¬ 
gust 8, 1969, (see app. II) states that there is adequate 
evidence that intensive training is being provided at Civil¬ 
ian Conservation Centers within the cost limitations con¬ 
tained in the legislation; that the range of conservation 
work projects currently being accomplished by Job Corps con¬ 
tains the requirements for training in a wide range of 
skills which, once learned, are highly transferable to in¬ 
dustrial processing operations; that conservation work is a 
by-product of employment skills training; that the conserva¬ 
tion centers operate an intensive integrated classroom and 
work experience program geared to the communication and 


15 


accomplishment levels of the youths; that conservation cen¬ 
ters have not experienced any major difficulty in obtaining 
vocational instructors; and that the conservation centers 
have offered to the most underprivileged youths a program 
to achieve changes in attitude and an opportunity to improve 
their academic ability and vocational skills in order to 
function and succeed in society. 

On the basis of our reviews at Civilian Conservation 
Centers, we continued to have serious questions on whether, 
under a policy of utilizing the conservation work projects 
as the primary vehicle for teaching vocational training, 
corpsmen could develop skills needed for worthwhile employ¬ 
ment above the helper or laborer category. 

The findings on our review of the Collbran Civilian 
Conservation Center are discussed in the succeeding sections 
of this report. Recommendations for improving the adminis¬ 
tration of the program have been made in GAO reports previ¬ 
ously issued to the Congress on the Eight Canyon, Cispus, 
and Wellfleet Civilian Conservation Centers, and they are 
not repeated in this report. 


16 


EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COLLBRAN 


CENTER 1 S PROGRAM 

During our review at the Collbran Center, we noted 
that the environment appeared to provide an atmosphere 
conducive to accomplishing the desired rehabilitation of 
corpsmen. The Center facilities were being maintained in 
an orderly manner and the attitudes, morale, accountability, 
and discipline of corpsmen appeared to be very good. Corps- 
men interviewed generally believed they were benefiting 
from the programs and that the instructors were helpful. 

However, our review showed also that a number of im¬ 
provements could be made in the Center's training program 
to increase its overall effectiveness in meeting the ob¬ 
jectives of the act. Our findings on these matters are 
discussed in detail in succeeding sections of this report. 

RETENTION OF CORPSMEN 


On the basis of prior experience, Job Corps believes 
that corpsmen must remain in the program for at least 
6 months in order to receive the training necessary to find 
jobs with good pay and advancement potential. In this re¬ 
gard, a goal of 9 months was established as the average 
length of stay for corpsmen at all conservation centers 
during fiscal year 1968. However, the average length of 
stay for corpsmen who left the Center during calendar year 
1967 was less than 6 months and, on the basis of Job Corps 
experience, these corpsmen may not have received sufficient 
training to obtain and hold a job at a level above the 
helper category. 

The average length of stay of corpsmen leaving the 
Center during fiscal year 1967 was 6.9 months, compared 
with an average for all Job Corps conservation centers of 
5.9 months. The average length of stay of corpsmen leaving 
the Center during calendar year 1967 was 5.1 months, com¬ 
pared with an average for all Job Corps conservation cen¬ 
ters of 5.8 months. We were informed by a Center official 
that the decline was primarily attributable to the change 
in Center management in July 1967 and an accompanying 


17 






increase in discipline. As a result, corpsmen who could 
not adjust left the Center. For fiscal year 1968 and the 
first quarter of fiscal year 1969, length of stay at the 
Center averaged 5.8 months. 

In a test of the retention rate of corpsmen who en¬ 
tered the Center during the first 9 months of calendar 
year 1967, we found that 74 percent of the corpsmen left 
the Center within 6 months, including 48 percent who left 
within 3 months. 

The following schedule shows the length of stay by age 
of the 170 corpsmen received at the Center during the pe¬ 
riod January 1 through September 30, 1967. 


Percent leaving center Percent 




Number 

of 

corDsmen 

Under 

90 days 

90 to 
119 
days 

120 to 
149 
days 

150 to 
179 
days 

remaining 
180 days 
and over 

Age: 

16 


62 

53.2% 

8.1% 

17.7% 

1.6% 

19.4% 

17 


42 

47.7 

9.5 

16.6 

2.4 

23.8 

18 


30 

33.3 

20.0 

16.7 

0 

30.0 

19 


22 

63.7 

4.5 

0 

0 

31.8 

20 


8 

50.0 

25.0 

0 

0 

25.0 

21 


4 

0 

25.0 

0 

0 

75.0 

Other 

(14 and 22) 

2 

0 

0 

50.0 

0 

50.0 

Total 

corpsmen 

170 

47.6% 

11.2% 

14.1% 

1.2% 

25.9% 


The above schedule indicates that generally the higher 
the age of corpsmen the longer the length of their stay. 

One of the more significant factors disclosed by the above 
schedule is that nearly 48 percent of the corpsmen remained 
at the Center less than 90 days and only about 26 percent 
of the corpsmen remained at the Center 6 months or longer. 

Before entering the Job Corps, corpsmen are required 
to sign a length-of-stay commitment. In July 1967, the 
commitment was increased from 90 to 180 days because of 
better Job Corps placement experience for those remaining 
in the Job Corps for 180 days or more. Any stay of less 
than 90 days is considered by Job Corps to be particularly 
unsatisfactory. 


18 



























During calendar year 1967, there were 27 corpsmen who 
transferred from the Collbran Center to other Job Corps 
centers and 195 corpsmen who left the Center and were ter¬ 
minated from the Job Corps. We reviewed the records avail¬ 
able at the Center of the 195 terminated corpsmen and found 
that the reasons for the terminations were as follows: 

Number 

of 

corpsmen 


Reasons for terminations: 

Completed a defined program (graduated) 60 a 

Disciplinary discharges 15 

Returned to school or found a job 14 

Dissatisfied with Job Corps 14 

Withdrawal of parental consent 14 

Unauthorized leave 12 

Resigned rather than face disciplinary action 4 

Homesick 4 

Joined armed services 4 

Problems at home 1 

Medical discharge (cataracts) 1 

Screening error (low mentality) 1 

Under age 1 

Threatened and beaten 1 

Burglaries 1 

Other undefined personal reasons 48 


Total terminations during 1967 195 


See our discussion of graduation criteria on page 38. 
Conclusions 


In our opinion, increasing the corpsmen's average 
length of stay is vitally important if the Center is to 
achieve the Job Corps goal of providing corpsmen with suf- 
ficent educational and vocational training to enable them to 
obtain jobs with good pay and advancement potential. 

As shown in the above schedule, stated reasons for 
corpsmen's short length of stay at Collbran are many and 


19 








varied; some of them, such as the recruitment of youths not 
suited to the type of training offered, are most likely be¬ 
yond the control of Center management. However, we believe 
that the short length of stay can, to some extent at least, 
be directly attributed to the Center's failure to implement 
a sound program of basic education, vocational training, 
and counseling, as discussed in the following sections of 
this report. 

In our report on the Wellfleet Conservation Center 
(B-130515, June 30, 1969), we recommended to 0E0 that it 
require all centers to accumulate and analyze information 
regarding the reasons for, and circumstances under which, 
corpsmen terminate their enrollment prior to completion of 
the program, to assist in improving conditions at centers 
which might favorably influence the retention rate of 
corpsmen and/or improve recruiting and screening functions. 

0E0 concurred in our recommendation and informed us 
that it would devote its full efforts to increasing the 
corpsmen's length of stay in the total program. Further, 
0E0 advised us that the new programs, developed to improve 
the vocational training experience of the corpsmen, would 
have a positive effect on their length of stay and that, 
in addition, a new orientation program was being developed. 
Also, 0E0 advised us that the strengthening of each program 
segment should produce positive results in increasing the 
length of stay of corpsmen. 


20 


VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM 


The effectiveness of the vocational training was re¬ 
duced because of weaknesses that existed in the program. 
Vocational training was provided through on-the-job train¬ 
ing in Center work projects, and the goal of the Center 
was to train corpsmen to a helper level. Records were not 
maintained in most cases to show the skill areas to which 
a corpsman was exposed or the proficiency he may have at¬ 
tained in specific tasks. 

The Center recognized weaknesses in its program and 
in April 1968 implemented a training manual that set forth 
occupational areas for which training was available at the 
Center, identified specific work tasks and exposures in 
these areas, and made provision for recording the achieve¬ 
ments of corpsmen. However, training corpsmen to a helper 
level remained the goal of the Center. 

In May 1968, Job Corps and the Departments of Agri¬ 
culture and the Interior issued a Task Force Report con¬ 
taining a number of new programs and concepts which, 
among other things, called for the intensification of vo¬ 
cational training at conservation centers. 

The goal of the Job Corps' vocational program is to 
teach skills to the individual corpsmen that will aid them 
in getting, holding, and advancing in jobs. The conserva¬ 
tion work projects, together with a variety of center op¬ 
erations and maintenance work, are to serve as (1) work 
experience to develop good work habits and attitudes and 
(2) on-the-job training in specific vocational skills. 

According to the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Cen¬ 
ter Administrative Manual, the conservation centers were 
to provide a program of useful work experience in which 
the corpsmen would receive on-the-job training while be¬ 
ing engaged in meaningful work. The work experience pro¬ 
gram, which included both work projects and center support 
activities, was intended to supply corpsmen with entry 
level occupational skills in one or more of the following 
job clusters: (1) automotive, (2) clerical, (3) culi¬ 
nary, (4) conservation, (5) construction, and (6) mainte¬ 
nance . 


21 



Job Corps instructions provided for the preparation 
of curriculums and lesson plans for teaching various oc¬ 
cupational skills and for establishing standards for what 
each corpsman was to be taught in a curriculum. To im¬ 
plement these instructions, the work supervisors were to 
function as instructors and become involved in the prepa¬ 
ration of the curriculums and lesson plans. In actual 
work situations, the work supervisors were then required 
to utilize the lesson plans to tell the corpsmen what was 
to be done, to show the corpsmen how to do it, and to 
watch the corpsmen do it. 

Prior to April 1968 the Center had not generally im¬ 
plemented detailed guidelines for systematically develop¬ 
ing a corpsman's job skill training in vocational areas; 
nor, for that matter, had the Center established detailed 
standards for determining the level of competence reached 
by a corpsman. A Center official informed us that staff 
was not available to implement the type of training pro¬ 
gram contemplated by Job Corps and that the program was 
too advanced for most of the corpsmen. 

The Center recognized existing weaknesses and in 
April 1968 implemented a vocational training program 
manual which provided for evaluation forms for the various 
work program categories. The work program categories 
were: 


Carpenter 

Welder 

Heavy equipment operator 

Auto mechanic 

Cook 

Warehouseman 
Custodian 
Office clerk 
Laundry worker 
Sign and marker maker 

The manual provided check lists of work tasks or exposures 
in the occupational areas which were to be used to record 
achievements of corpsmen. 


22 


Although the manual that was introduced represented 
an improvement over past efforts, it did not, in our opin¬ 
ion, result in a transition to the intensive vocational 
training required to permit corpsmen to develop skills 
needed to obtain and retain employment in occupational 
areas beyond the helper or laborer category. The Center 
goal was to provide corpsmen with training to the helper 
level. Minimum corpsmen achievements in the various ex¬ 
posure areas were not established and the areas identified 
for exposure were less complex and comprehensive than 
those later prescribed by Job Corps in issuances supple¬ 
menting the May 1968 Task Force Report. 

Agency action 

As previously mentioned, Job Corps and the Depart¬ 
ments of Agriculture and the Interior recognized that 
weaknesses and deficiencies existed in the training of 
corpsmen at conservation centers and on May 2, 1968, is¬ 
sued a Civilian Conservation Center Program Task Force 
Report containing a number of new program concepts and 
policies, many of which, in our opinion, should result in 
improved operation of the centers. With respect to voca¬ 
tional training, the report states: 

"The goal of the vocational program is to teach 
skills to the individual corpsman which will 
directly aid them in placement and enhance his 
ability and advance in a job. The major emphasis 
is to teach vocational skills which are directly 
related to the work program of the individual 
center. Specialized vocational training not re¬ 
lated to work projects or center operation assign¬ 
ments, can be implemented with the prior approval 
of the responsible Department and the Associate 
Director, Civilian Conservation Centers." 

"The vocational training program will receive 
major emphasis by the cooperative efforts of the 
Departments and Job Corps to strengthen the pro¬ 
gram. 


23 



"In addition to the regular vocational program 
and certain approved specialized vocational pro¬ 
grams, such as the small appliance repair courses, 
several additional advanced vocational training 
programs will be implemented in existing centers. 

These programs will be similar to the heavy equip¬ 
ment program at the Jacob Creek Center. They will 
cover advanced training in Heavy Equipment, Car¬ 
pentry, GED [General Educational Development--a 
high school equivalency program] and training for 
government service including entrance into mili¬ 
tary service." 

The report also provides that the main thrust of the 
training program be toward occupational areas above the 
helper or laborer category. In keeping with this decision, 
Job Corps issued training standards detailing the minimum 
proficiency attainments required in the occupational areas 
of (1) automotive service mechanic, (2) construction car¬ 
penter, (3) cook, (4) heavy equipment operator, (5) masonry 
worker, and (6) welder. 

Also, since these training programs were to be estab¬ 
lished within the context of the goals of the conservation 
centers' work projects, Job Corps, in August 1968, issued a 
Work-Vocational Training Manual. The purpose of this manual 
is to assist the centers by providing procedures and guide¬ 
lines for (1) analyzing work projects for their training 
opportunities, (2) planning and implementing the training, 
and (3) evaluating the accomplishments of training. 

Conclusions and agency comments 

The Collbran Center was not conducting the intensive 
vocational training program required to provide reasonable 
assurance that corpsmen could develop the skills needed to 
obtain and retain employment in occupational areas beyond 
the helper or laborer category. 

We believe that, to provide programs of maximum benefit 
to the corpsmen, it is necessary to emphasize skill- 
developing vocational programs through intensive classroom- 
type training and related work experience. 


24 



Job Corps has enlisted the assistance of certain labor 
unions in training and placing conservation center corpsmen 
as carpenters, heavy equipment operators, and painters and 
in other skill categories. As of July 1, 1969, union- 
assisted programs were being operated at 25 conservation 
centers. 

The Acting Director of Survey and Review, Department 
of the Interior, in commenting on our findings and conclu¬ 
sions on August 7, 1969, stated: 

"We feel that the advances made in programs, cur¬ 
riculum, and procedures as the result of our Task 
Force Report will result in accomplishing the re¬ 
sults that we mutually seek. We agree that 
greater emphasis on vocational-skill training is 
desirable ***." 

The Acting Deputy Director, 0E0, in commenting on our 
draft report stated: 

"The observations made by GAO on the cited pages 
parallel the programs and management direction we 
have given these elements of the Civilian Conser¬ 
vation Centers program during the past year. We 
place strong emphasis on vocational training in 
Civilian Conservation Centers. The Task Force 
Report and the development of the training stan¬ 
dards referred to by the auditors have served as 
a sound base for many corrective actions. The 
Work-Vocational Training Manual (PM 400-15) pro¬ 
vides for systematically planning and coordinat¬ 
ing the Corpsman's vocational and educational 
training with work experience. This system also 
provides for subjecting the work projects to a 
skills training analysis and to individual prog¬ 
ress reporting on the skills learned by each 
Corpsman. 

"The Task Force policy implementation is ensuring 
a quality vocational training program. It has 
corrected the deficiencies noted by the auditors, 
and it is producing viable vocational training 
programs. Job Corps has restructured its 


pre-vocational program. This revised program is 
being field tested at present and is scheduled 
for implementation by July 1, 1969. Pre- 
vocational training will enable a Corpsman to be 
placed in a vocational program that meets his in¬ 
terests and capabilities within 30 to 60 days af¬ 
ter arrival at the Center. He will be immediately 
involved in this program upon arrival and he will 
be given the means to acquire basic work skills 
and habits. This system allows for reliable se¬ 
lection and assignment of Corpsmen to the voca¬ 
tional programs developed under guidance of the 
PM 400-15 directive. 


"In addition to the pre-vocational and vocational 
training program refinements, Job Corps Civilian 
Conservation Centers have contracts with the na¬ 
tional labor organizations of the Operating Engi¬ 
neers, Carpenters and Joiners, Painters and Dec¬ 
orators, and with local building trades councils 
for instructional and program assistance. These 
resources are providing a high training standard 
as well as placement and post graduation support. 

"In summary. Job Corps Civilian Conservation Cen¬ 
ters has the policies, personnel, and management 
direction nation-wide, to produce strong voca¬ 
tional training programs." 

Although we believe that the actions taken by the 
agencies represented worthwhile improvements in policies 
and concepts for providing vocational training at conserva¬ 
tion centers, it appeared that the policy of utilizing 
the conservation work projects as the primary vehicle for 
teaching vocational training would remain in effect. 

It was our opinion that implementation of the require¬ 
ments for satisfactory completion of the union-administered 
programs would require Job Corps to develop training proj¬ 
ects specifically designed to be in consonance with such 
requirements. For example, the carpentry program calls for 
the use of five instructors and a coordinator, all supplied 
by the union, to provide 52 weeks of training for partici¬ 
pating corpsmen, half of which time is to be spent in 


26 


o 


general classroom instruction and half in practical 
carpentry-related work experience. This requirement, 
therefore, presented the question of whether there were suf¬ 
ficient work projects having skill development potential 
to meet the vocational training needs of all center corps- 
men. 


In our report on the Eight Canyon Conservation Center 
(B-130515, June 30, 1969), we recommended that 0E0, in con¬ 
sonance with other Government agencies having cognizance 
for the operations of conservation centers, reexamine the 
current policy of providing training primarily through con¬ 
servation work projects, with a view toward taking such ac¬ 
tions as may be required to develop a vocational training 
program which will permit corpsmen to develop skills needed 
for worthwhile employment in occupations above the helper 
or laborer category. 

In response to this recommendation, the Department of 
Labor, in August 1969, informed the Bureau of the Budget 
that a thorough review of the vocational training program 
at conservation centers had been completed and that, as a 
result, it was decided to restructure the vocational train¬ 
ing program to provide accelerated training in a limited 
number of occupations above the helper and laborer catego¬ 
ries. The new program will include, among other things, 
structured classroom vocational training and structured 
skills training on actual training projects. Work projects 
which have little or no training value are to be abandoned. 


27 


BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM 


The objectives of the Center's basic education program, 
consisting principally of reading, mathematics, and lan¬ 
guage and study skills, were (1) to raise each individual 
to a minimum goal of a seventh grade level and (2) to en¬ 
courage corpsmen to participate in the General Educational 
Development (GED) Testing Program, which is a high school 
education equivalency program. 

Of the 195 corpsmen who left the Center in calendar 
year 1967 (exclusive of 27 who transferred to other cen¬ 
ters), only 7 percent achieved the minimum reading and math¬ 
ematics goals. 

Some of the reasons for this low achievement rate ap¬ 
peared to be that (1) corpsmen had low academic achievement 
at enrollment and had an average length of stay at the Cen¬ 
ter of less than 6 months, (2) even though the low academic 
level of corpsmen may have precluded their successful com¬ 
pletion of vocational training, only about 37 percent of the 
corpsmen's academic time was scheduled in reading and math¬ 
ematics training, and (3) although strongly recommended by 
Job Corps directives, corpsmen with reading ability of the 
third grade level or lower were not given daily reading in¬ 
structions because the practice would have interfered with 
the work program. 

*» 

Training program 

The Collbran Center scheduled the corpsmen's duty time 
on a weekly basis, and during a 5-week period the corpsmen 
normally spent 2 weeks in academic training classes and 
3 weeks in various work projects and Center support activi¬ 
ties. Scheduled corpsmen's duty time was in keeping with 
Job Corps guidelines. (See p. 10.) 

We determined that during a 5-week period most corps- 
men were scheduled to use 16 percent of their duty time in 
the basic education program of reading and mathematics; 

2 percent in handwriting; 5 percent in the world of work 
course which deals with, among other things, how to get a 
job and meet job responsibilities; 14 percent in the physi¬ 
cal development and recreation program; and 6 percent in the 


28 




counseling program. The remaining time of 57 percent was 
scheduled for work projects (38 percent) and Center support 
activities (19 percent). 

Basic education, which was primarily tutorial, was con¬ 
ducted on an individual study basis. Each individual pro¬ 
gressed at his own rate, and his program was tailored to his 
individual needs by use of diagnostic tests and self- 
instructional procedures. Placement in the program and ad¬ 
vancements by the corpsmen were based on a testing program 
provided by Job Corps. The Job Corps instructions require 
the administering of segments of the Stanford Achievement 
Test for program evaluation and verification of terminal 
levels of achievement. 

Points toward promotional pay raises were awarded the 
corpsmen for successfully completing levels of the reading 
and mathematics courses. These achievements were also re¬ 
ported to Job Corps where the information was utilized to 
make overall comparisons of reading and mathematical gains 
of the various Job Corps centers. Comparative reported 
gains in reading ability and mathematical ability were two 
of seven factors considered by 0E0 in selecting centers to 
be closed during the early part of 1968 and two of the six 
factors considered by the Department of Labor in selecting 
centers to be closed in July 1969. 

In the early part of 1968, among 88 conservation cen¬ 
ters, Collbran ranked 51st in reading progress and 80th in 
mathematics progress. 

In April 1969, the Department of Labor announced the 
planned closing of 59 Job Corps centers. At that time, of 
77 mainland conservation centers, Collbran reportedly ranked 
ninth in reading and 11th in mathematics gains. 

Reading, level of incoming corpsmen 

The Job Corps screening agencies administer a test to 
determine the applicants' reading ability. Prior to Novem¬ 
ber 1968, the results were used by Job Corps in determining 
whether to assign individual corpsmen to urban or conserva¬ 
tion centers. It was Job Corps' intent to assign non¬ 
readers and beginning readers with reading ability through 


29 



about third grade to conservation centers and to assign up¬ 
per intermediate and advanced readers to urban centers. 
Applicants with intermediate reading levels between these 
two groups were assigned to either urban or conservation 
centers. As a result of this assignment practice, the 
reading ability of corpsmen assigned to conservation centers 
was on the average considerably below that of corpsmen as¬ 
signed to urban centers. 

Upon arrival at the Center, corpsmen were readminis¬ 
tered the reading test given by the screener. Other oral 
and written tests were also administered and the corpsmen 
were placed at the indicated instructional level. 

We reviewed the records of reading levels for the 94 
corpsmen on board at the Center on March 31, 1968, and de¬ 
termined that only 11 had a recorded reading level at the 
time of enrollment equivalent to that of the fifth grade or 
higher, which was considered by Job Corps to be the minimum 
level needed for satisfactory participation in vocational 
training. 


Number 
of corpsmen 


Nonreaders 15 

Beginning readers 14 

Grade 3.0 12 

3.5 8 

4.0 21 

4.5 13 

5.0 5 

5.5 4 

6.0 2 

6.5 
7.0 

Advanced readers 


Total corpsmen 94. 


The reading program for nonreaders and readers with 
ability equivalents up through about the third grade begins 
with the identification of individual letters and pro¬ 
gresses to the reading of simple sentences. The procedures 


30 





c 


provided by the Job Corps Reading Manual dated June 1967 
strongly recommended that these low level readers be sched¬ 
uled for reading instruction every day, and pointed out that 
alternate week scheduling (which had been used at the 
Collbran Center) was particularly inadvisable. 

We were informed by Center officials that reading in¬ 
struction for corpsmen in this category had not been sched¬ 
uled daily because such scheduling would have interfered 
with the work program. However, the Job Corps Task Force 
Report issued in May 1968 requires that centers schedule 
beginning readers into one session of reading of at least 
50 minutes per day during the work week. We were informed 
by Center officials that compliance with these instructions 
was implemented at the Center in June 1968. 

v 

Mathematical skills of incoming corpsmen 

The mathematics curriculum was designed to teach skills 
which are necessary to obtain and retain a job and to manage 
personal finances. The curriculum consists of 13 major 
skill levels. Achievement of all skills is considered by 
Job Corps to be equivalent to attaining about the seventh 
grade level. The 13 major skills are as follows: 

1. Adding whole numbers 

2. Subtracting whole numbers 

3. Multiplying whole numbers 

4. Dividing whole numbers 

5. Adding and subtracting fractions 

6. Multiplying and dividing fractions 

7. Adding decimals 

8. Subtracting decimals 

9. Multiplying decimals 

10. Dividing decimals 

11. Percentage 

12. Measurement 

13. Basic descriptive geometry 

The mathematics program began with the testing of a 
corpsman to determine his ability to add whole numbers and 
progressed in the above-listed order until a deficiency was 
diagnosed. Instruction in that skill was provided and, 
upon satisfactory completion of training in that skill, 


31 



testing of the corpsman was resumed. The corpsmen received 
progress points toward promotional pay raises for only those 
skills in which they were trained at the Center. 

We reviewed the recorded mathematical skills for the 
94 corpsmen on board at the Center on March 31, 1968. The 
following schedule shows the maximum mathematical skill 
levels that these corpsmen were recorded as having at time 
of enrollment. 


Number of 
corpsmen 


Unable to add 18 

Adding whole numbers 22 

Subtracting whole numbers 14 

Multiplying whole numbers 13 

Dividing whole numbers 15 

Adding and subtracting fractions 8 

Multiplying and dividing fractions 1 

Adding decimals 
Subtracting decimals 

Multiplying decimals 1 

Dividing decimals 2 

Percentage 
Measurement 

Basic descriptive geometry - 

Total corpsmen 94 


During calendar year 1967, 195 corpsmen (exclusive of 
27 corpsmen who transferred to other centers) terminated 
from the Job Corps program at Collbran. We reviewed the 
records available at the Center on the 195 terminated corps- 
men and found that 60 had been classified as program com¬ 
pleters or graduates. 

Our review of records which were available for 59 of 
the 60 corpsmen reported as graduates showed that only about 
22 percent (13 of 59) of these graduates had acquired the 
minimum reading (about a 7.5 grade reading level) and mathe¬ 
matics achievement goals of the program. We noted further 


32 




that only 29 percent (17 of 59) of these graduates had at¬ 
tained the minimum educational requirements prescribed by 
the Task Force Report of May 1968 (a 6.5 reading level and 
completion of the mathematics program). 

High school equivalency program 

The GED testing program was developed to provide a 
method for persons who have not completed their high school 
education to obtain a high school equivalency certificate. 

Prior to April 1968 Job Corps instructions provided 
that before applying for the GED test the corpsman must have 
completed the Job Corps mathematics curriculum and be work¬ 
ing successfully in the advanced reading curriculum. In 
April 1968, the material supplied by Job Corps for the GED 
study program was revised and the program was made mandatory 
for all corpsmen who complete the basic education program 
and achieve satisfactory scores on the advanced battery of 
the Stanford Achievement Tests. 

Until April 1968, the Center did not use Job Corps ma¬ 
terials in its GED study program. The material was that 
used by an adult education class at a college in Grand Junc¬ 
tion, Colorado. It was provided to interested corpsmen who 
in the judgment of the principal instructor could profit 
from it. The college class was attended by the corpsmen, 
and tutorial services by VISTA volunteers (Volunteers in 
Service to America) were provided. During the period Novem¬ 
ber 1965 to April 1966, nine corpsmen attended the adult ed¬ 
ucation class at Grand Junction. One corpsman completed the 
course material and passed the GED test. 

In the period September 1966 to April 1967, eight 
corpsmen attended the course. One completed the course ma¬ 
terial but failed to pass the GED test. Subsequently only 
two corpsmen were provided the adult education course mate¬ 
rial. These two did not complete the course material before 
leaving the Center. We were informed by Center officials 
that the revised GED study material provided by Job Corps in 
April 1968 would be used for the GED program in the future. 


33 



Achievement testing, 


Job Corps Test Administrator's Manual dated July 1965 
provided for the Stanford Achievement Tests (SAT) to be ad¬ 
ministered to each corpsman within the first 10 days after 
he arrived at a center. The revised manual, dated December 
1967 provides for the SAT to be administered to each corps- 
man within the first 30 days after he arrives at the center, 
every 4 months while enrolled, and again just before termi¬ 
nating . 

Prior to 1968, the Center had not been systematically 
administering achievement tests nor forwarding to Job Corps 
the results of the few tests administered which was con¬ 
trary to requirements. 

The SAT is designed to provide information to Job Corps 
and the center for evaluation of the corpsmen's growth and 
achievement during their stay at the center. The test re¬ 
sults could be used by the center as a tool in counseling 
individual corpsmen and for evaluating the center's educa¬ 
tion program. As of June 30, 1968, the test became a re¬ 
quirement of Job Corps for validating graduating corpsmen's 
education achievements. Job Corps uses the information to 
establish a norm bank on corpsmen throughout the Job Corps 
and in evaluating the effectiveness of various segments of 
the basic education program. 

* i 

As of March 31, 1968, there were 94 corpsmen on board 
at the Center, but only 65 of them had been administered the 
SAT. As shown in the following schedule, most of the corps- 
men enrolled in 1968 had been administered the SAT. 


Number of corps- 

Number of corpsmen men given SAT 


Period enrolled 

at center, 3-31-68 

Number 

Percent 

Enrolled prior to 1968 

62 

35 

56% 

Enrolled in 1968 

32 

30 a 

94 

Total 

94 

65 

697o 


One of the remaining two corpsmen arrived at the Center on 
March 27, 1968. The other corpsman arrived at the Center 
on January 30, 1968--no explanation was given as to why the 
SAT was not administered. 


34 















The Center counselor, who was responsible for the SAT pro¬ 
gram prior to January 1968, informed us that the SAT was 
not given to all corpsmen because he did not consider the 
SAT useful for the individuals enrolled in the Job Corps. 

i 

The Center did not send the SAT answer sheets to the 
scoring service contractor for Job Corps usage, although this 
was required, because the principal instructor, who was re¬ 
sponsible for the SAT program beginning in January 1968, be¬ 
lieved the submission of test results was optional. On 
March 19, 1968, Job Corps pointed out to Collbran that the 
instructions had not been complied with and that it was man¬ 
datory for answer sheets to be sent to the scoring service 
for official computer scoring and data banking. The avail¬ 
able tests were mailed to the scoring service on April 29, 


1968. 


The Task Force Report of May 2, 1968, reemphasizes the 
need for a quality education program at conservation centers 
and establishes minimum requirements for program completion. 
These requirements include completion of: milestone 14 in 
reading (grade equivalent 6.5), the basic mathematics pro¬ 
gram (equivalent to about a seventh-grade level), the world 
of work course, and the language and study skills course 
through area 5. 

The Task Force Report also provides for mandatory pri¬ 
orities within the education program in an effort to en¬ 
hance the corpsmen's chances of attaining the program goals 
and graduating from the program. These mandatory priorities 
are as follows: 


Priority A 


Priority B 


1. Reading 

2. Mathematics 

3. Language and study skills 

4. World of work 

5. Vocational training 

6. English as a second lan- 


8. Driver education 

9. Health 


Priority C 


guage (for non-English- 
speaking corpsmen) 


10. Physical education 

11. First aid 


7. GED 


12. Cultural activities 

13. Enrichment programs 


35 





In addition, all corpsmen are to be scheduled within 
the program in accordance with their individual needs. 

Conclusions and agency comments 

The goal of the basic reading and mathematics education 
program, both before and after the May 1968 Job Corps Task 
Force Report, was to raise the corpsmen*s ability in such 
subjects to the equivalence of about a seventh grade level. 
In calendar year 1967, only about 7 percent of the Center's 
terminating corpsmen (excluding those transferring to other 
centers) had achieved this level. 

The more apparent reasons for this low achievement 
rate seemed to be that corpsmen had low reading levels at 
time of enrollment (88 percent were under the fifth grade 
level) and the average length of stay of corpsmen was low; 
only about 37 percent of the corpsmen's academic training 
time was scheduled in reading and mathematics training, even 
though, as noted on page 35, Job Corps assigned top pri¬ 
ority to these subjects; and corpsmen with reading ability 
of the third grade or lower had not been given the daily 
reading instructions recommended by Job Corps. 

The Acting Deputy Director, 0E0, advised us that: 

"Pointing out the time spent in reading and math 
and leaving the implication that these are the .. 
sum total of useful education is unfair. The 
other subjects - World of Work, Handwriting, 

Language Skills, Driver Education, Health, etc. - 
are as necessary to the Corpsmen as are History, 
Geography, Biology, Literature, Humanities, and 
P.E. to a high school student." 

We recognize that subjects such as world of work and 
handwriting are a necessary part of the overall education 
program of the corpsmen. However, considering the overall 
importance of reading and mathematics, the limited ability 
of a majority of the youths in these subjects at the time 
of their enrollment in the program, and the average gains 
made by youths while at the Center, it appears reasonable 
to expect that a greater portion of the corpsmen*s academic 


36 



training time should have been scheduled in reading and 
mathematics. 

The Acting Deputy Director stated that our comments on 
the lack of adherence to Job Corps directives referring to 
giving daily reading instructions to corpsmen with reading 
ability of third grade level or lower were not applicable 
because the Job Corps directives referred to were published 
in the Task Force Report, dated May 2, 1968, and were to be 
implemented by June 30, 1968, and therefore did not apply 
during the period of our audit. The directives referred to 
in our report were included in the Job Corps Reading Manual 
dated June 1967. 

The Acting Deputy Director stated further that: 

"One point that is often overlooked is the fact 
that the group living/social development portion 
cf the program constitutes one-half of the pro¬ 
gram. In many instances a reorientation of 
goals, values, and social outlook must take 
place before academic or vocational training 
will benefit or be of value as far as the indi¬ 
vidual’s assimilation is concerned." 

We view the group living/social development aspect of 
Job Corps as an element that should encompass a total effort 
that spans across the academic and vocational training as 
well as all phases of a corpsman's activities in Job Corps. 

The Acting Deputy Director stated that the Task Force 
Report provided mandatory priorities within the education 
program and provided a basis for major improvements in that 
program. 

Corrective action taken by the Center and more strin¬ 
gent minimum requirements established by Job Corps for com¬ 
pletion of the education program should promote a more ef¬ 
fective education program at the Center. As noted on page 
29, reported corpsmen gains in reading and mathematics were 
higher in 1969 than they were in 1968. Also, 0E0 advised 
us, as noted on page 20, that it would devote its full ef¬ 
forts to increasing the length of stay of corpsmen. 


37 


UNIFORM GRADUATION CRITERIA TO BE APPLIED 


Prior to May 1968, Job Corps described a graduate as 
one who had completed a defined program; however, it had 
not provided the centers with specific objective standards 
as to what constituted a defined program. The lack of such 
standards led to the individual centers' developing their 
own criteria for graduation. This circumstance has, in our 
opinion, deprived Job Corps of information prepared on a 
uniform basis which could be used in measuring the effec¬ 
tiveness of the program and the performance of the various 
centers and has reduced assurance for prospective employers 
that all Job Corps graduates possess the minimum knowledge 
and job skill necessary for successful employment. 

On the basis of a comparison of minimum requirements 
for program completion furnished by Job Corps to the con¬ 
servation centers in May 1968 with achievements of the Cen¬ 
ter's 1967 graduates, very few, if any, of the corpsmen re¬ 
ported by the Center as graduates appeared to have gained 
sufficient knowledge and occupational skills to be classi¬ 
fied as program completers. 

Corpsmen are terminated from the Job Corps program be¬ 
cause of graduation, resignation, or death; for medical, 
administrative, of disciplinary reasons; or for being ab¬ 
sent without leave. To be classified as a graduate, a 
corpsman must have completed a defined program during his 
residency at the center. 

Three categories of terminees have been established 
by Job Corps for purposes of defining the degree of place¬ 
ment support and services to be provided Job Corps termi¬ 
nees. Category I terminees--those corpsmen who complete a 
defined program are provided continuous placement services 
by the regional office of jurisdiction for a period of 90 
days after the date of their departure from the center. 
Category II terminees--those corpsmen whose length of stay 
at the centers exceeds 90 days but who have not completed 
a defined program--are provided placement services for a 
period of 30 days. Category III terminees—those corpsmen 
whose length of stay at the centers was less than 90 days 
and who did not complete a defined program--are referred 


38 









back to their community for placement assistance from State 
and local agencies. 

In the absence of specific guidelines from Job Corps, 
the Collbran Center considered that for graduation a corps- 
man should: 

Possess satisfactory attitudes and behavior as deter¬ 
mined by the group living department. 

Possess good work habits as determined by the super¬ 
visor of his work. 

Complete one of the Center's vocational training pro¬ 
grams and reach certain levels in reading and mathe¬ 
matics related to this vocational training. 

The Center reported that, of the 222 corpsmen who left 
during calendar year 1967, 60 had completed a defined pro¬ 
gram. However, because of the absence of adequate records, 
we were unable to fully examine the extent to which these 
60 corpsmen may have received training. 

Records were not maintained on the vocational training 
received by corpsmen or the proficiency attained by them in 
specific vocational training tasks. A corpsman's compe¬ 
tency in vocational training was established when he was 
leaving the Center on the basis of the memory of Center 
staff as to the corpsman's day-to-day ability to perform 
tasks. Considering the Center's position that conditions 
did not make it possible to provide intensive vocational 
training, it is doubtful that many corpsmen classified as 
completers during 1967 attained a high degree of profi¬ 
ciency in vocational areas. 

Due to the unavailability of records, we also could not 
determine whether the corpsmen had met social and attitudi- 
nal requirements. 

Records were generally available at the Center relating 
to corpsmen achievements in reading and mathematics. Our 
examination of these records for 59 of the 60 corpsmen, as 
discussed on page 33, showed that only 17 of the 59 would 


have met the minimum reading and mathematical skill levels 
required after June 30, 1968, for program completion. 

Agency action 

On May 2, 1968, Job Corps furnished the conservation 
centers with guidelines setting forth minimum requirements 
for completion of the Civilian Conservation Center program, 
which provide that, in order to be classified as graduates, 
corpsmen must meet certain minimum requirements as to edu¬ 
cational, social, and occupational skills. 

The minimum requirements for satisfactory completion 
of the educational skills program include, in part, com¬ 
pletion of the Job Corps reading program through milestone 
14, as verified by SAT scores, and completion of the basic 
mathematics program. The guidelines also provide that 
corpsmen must be considered satisfactory by the centers in 
certain social/attitudinal skills, such as reliability, re¬ 
spect for property, appropriate appearance, cooperation, 
attitude toward safety, and appropriate respect for author¬ 
ity. In addition, corpsmen must be certified as meeting 
the requirements of at least one entry-level job as defined 
in the "Dictionary of Occupational Titles."1 

Conclusions and agency comments 

There was little assurance that corpsmen classified as 
program completers during calendar year 1967 did in fact 
meet the requirements for such classification. Moreover, 
it appears unlikely that any of these corpsmen would have 
met the requirements established in May 1968. 


^he "D ictionary of Occupational Titles 
U.S. Training and Employment Service, 
provides an identification of jobs. 


," prepared by the 
Department of Labor 


> 


40 





Also, it is apparent that the past lack of Job Corps¬ 
wide standards for determining when a corpsman is qualified 
for graduation has deprived the Job Corps of information 
with which to measure the performance of the centers. 

We believe, however, that the minimum requirements for 
graduation of corpsmen prescribed on May 2, 1968, if prop¬ 
erly implemented, will provide a uniform and more meaning¬ 
ful basis for comparing the performance of the various cen¬ 
ters, and more assurance to employers that the graduates 
possess the minimum knowledge and job skill necessary for 
successful employment. 

The Acting Deputy Director, 0E0, advised us that 0E0 
was in agreement with our finding and that it had been 
breaking new ground in attempting to apply standards to a 
population with a wide range of entry level capability. 

He stated further that the training standards had been de¬ 
veloped through experience and that positive steps had been 
taken to determine program completion requirements with 
full knowledge that some corpsmen would complete only a 
part of the requirements. He added that efforts would be 
continued to have as many completions as possible. 

The Acting Director of Survey and Review, Department 

of the Interior, stated in his comments that he agreed that 

the application of uniform graduation criteria was desir¬ 
able. 








COUNSELING PROGRAM 


Our review of the counseling program indicated that 
not all corpsmen were receiving adequate counseling to as¬ 
sist them in choosing realistic career goals. 

The counseling program was designed to aid corpsmen in 
adjusting to Center life, choosing occupational goals, 
solving personal problems, and analyzing their progress in 
Center education and work programs. According to Job Corps 
instructions, the Center counselor was to provide for the 
vocational and personal counseling of corpsmen. 

The Center counselor informed us that he did not gen¬ 
erally schedule meetings of corpsmen with him; the sessions 
had usually been initiated by the corpsmen themselves on a 
voluntary basis or by staff referral. The sessions were 
usually concerned with corpsmen's personal problems; how¬ 
ever, educational and vocational goals were sometimes dis¬ 
cussed. We were unable to verify the counselor's activi¬ 
ties because he considered all records of interviews be¬ 
tween himself and the corpsmen privileged information. His 
position was upheld by the Salt Lake City Regional Office 
of the Bureau of Reclamation. A higher level request for 
access to these records was made; however, the matter had 
not been resolved at the time our review at the Center was 
concluded. 

»1 

The counselor reported that, during one 2-week period 
in February 1967, he kept a record of the corpsmen who came 
to see him and the problems discussed. He said that he 
discussed personal problems with 114 corpsmen, vocational 
problems with 25 corpsmen, and educational problems with 17 
corpsmen. While we were unable to verify this information, 
due to the counselor's classifying it as privileged, it 
does provide an indication of the counselor's activities. 

As part of a corpsman advisory system, administered by 
the counselor, selected staff members called corpsman advi¬ 
sors are responsible for helping the corpsmen, through in¬ 
dividual and group meetings, to gain more from Job Corps 
and to become better prepared for post-Job Corps life. The 
principal function of the advisor is to help trainees 


42 



define and achieve their vocational goals. The system re¬ 
quires that, to aid corpsmen in defining their goals, their 
abilities in various skill categories must be rated by the 
work leaders. Comparison of the ratings with the require¬ 
ments for a wide variety of jobs enables the advisor to as¬ 
sist corpsmen in selecting jobs they are best suited for 
and in defining and achieving their vocational goals. 

The advisor’s duties also include explaining the Job 
Corps system for promotion and pay, keeping track of each 
trainee’s progress in work and education, awarding pro¬ 
motion certificates, and preparing the placement portfolio. 

Job Corps instructed that corpsman advisors be se¬ 
lected from center staff volunteers and that up to 10 corps- 
men be assigned on a random basis to each advisor. 

At the time of our review in April 1968, the number of 
corpsmen assigned to each advisor ranged from 2 to 19. A 
Center official informed us that a corpsman’s advisor was 
the teacher or workleader to whom a corpsman was assigned 
during the first class period on each Wednesday. Corpsmen 
have more than one advisor since the corpsmen alternate be¬ 
tween work and education. The number of corpsmen assigned 
to an advisor will vary with the scheduling of corpsmen to 
work assignments and educational classes. 

The advisors’ files contained records of the corpsmen's 
progress in mathematics, reading, driver education, and 
work habits and data pertaining to promotions and pay. The 
files did not, however, contain the required ratings of the 
corpsmen's abilities in various vocational skill categories. 
The advisors informed us that generally they d id not advise 
the corpsmen on vocational goals and that the meetings con¬ 
sisted primarily of reviewing the corpsman’s progress in 
education and work and discussing personal problems. 

The reason most often stated by the advisors for not 
giving career guidance was that they did not have an evalu¬ 
ation of corpsmen's skills which could be used in directing 
them into specific skills training. 


43 








We interviewed 25 corpsmen selected at random who had 
been in Job Corps at least 58 days. Twelve of these corps- 
men informed us that they had not received assistance in 
defining and planning a vocational goal and the remaining 
13 said that they had. Of these 12 corpsmen, six had been 
at the Center more than 6 months and four had been at the 
Center from 3 to 6 months. 

Conclusions and agency comments 

Intensive vocational counseling is an important func¬ 
tion of the Center in its attempt to rehabilitate youths; 
however, indications are that vocational counseling at 
Collbran was not very intensive. 

The vocational counseling program should improve with 
the implementation of the Civilian Conservation Counseling 
Manual, dated June 1969, which requires that corpsmen se¬ 
lect a vocational area immediately after completing a voca¬ 
tional exposure program that takes 30 to 90 days, depending 
upon individual needs. Also, with the implementation of a 
system to record the corpsmen*s proficiency in their voca¬ 
tional training, as required by the Task Force Report and 
related issuances, some means will be available to the 
corpsman advisors by which they can monitor the progress of 
corpsmen in this area and suggest vocational changes where 
appropriate. 

In our report on the Wellfleet Conservation Center 
(B-130515, June 30, 1969), we proposed that OEO require 
that counseling be conducted on a regularly scheduled basis. 
We proposed also that, as part of the contemplated revision 
of the corpsman advisory system, OEO consider requiring the 
professional counselors at the centers to provide corpsman 
advisors with the necessary training to properly implement 
the system and to furnish adequate supervision to ensure 
that the system is functioning properly. Further, in con¬ 
nection with our review of the Atterbury Men's Urban Center 
July 23, 1969) , we recommended the establishment 
of overall guidelines defining the content of, and the fre¬ 
quency and methods of conducting, satisfactory counseling 
programs for corpsmen. 


44 







OEO advised us that it had taken many steps to improve 
the area of counseling, one of which was to relieve the 
counselors of the recordkeeping workload to free more time 
for the counselors to devote to professional counseling and 
staff training of corpsman advisors in the counseling func¬ 
tion. OEO said that evaluation teams would examine and re¬ 
port progress and, when necessary, would recommend action 
required to improve performance. 

Regarding our recommendation for the establishment of 
overall guidelines, OEO advised us that the Job Corps was 
developing a manual covering the various elements of a 
counseling program in a residential setting. 

In commenting on the draft of this report, the Acting 
Deputy Director reiterated the above-noted actions and 
stated that it had not been established that regularly 
scheduled counseling sessions with every corpsman either 
were necessary or were more successful than the counseling 
system being used. 

We believe that the actions taken by Job Corps, if 
properly implemented, should help strengthen the counseling 
program provided at Civilian Conservation Centers. However, 
we are of the opinion that the professional counselors 
should periodically, for example once a month, meet with 
corpsman to discuss such pertinent matters as the corpsman's 
progress and problems in meeting his goals. We believe 
that this is desirable since the professional counselor, 
because of his qualifications, is better equipped than the 
corpsman advisors to guide the corpsmen to their career 
goals. 


45 


EFFICIENCY OF ADMINISTRATION 


OF THE COLLBRAN CENTER 

APPRAISED VALUE OF CONSERVATION 
WORK PROJECTS 


Our review showed that values assigned to work proj¬ 
ects in process and to those completed were not supported 
by independent appraisals or separate cost records. 

The Economic Opportunity Act places significance on 
the conservation work to be accomplished by Job Corps, and 
w T e believe that policies and procedures which will result 
in reasonably accurate valuations of work projects are es¬ 
sential to permit the Congress to fully evaluate this as¬ 
pect of the Job Corps program. 

For calendar year 1967, the Center reported the values 
of completed and in-process work projects as $164,650. 

Most of these work projects involved construction on con¬ 
servation sites and, therefore, were within the objective 
of the Economic Opportunity Act in that they contributed to 
the development of national, state, and community re¬ 
sources. The values reported were not supported by ap¬ 
praisals or cost records. The values assigned to the two 
projects we reviewed did not appear excessive in relation 
to estimates provided to us for the value of such projects 
by officials of the Forest Service and National Park Ser¬ 
vice . 


The Department of the Interior instructions provide 
that, after the first 6 months of center operation, the 
corpsman 1 s work time should be allotted at least 75 percent 
to conservation and recreation projects, not more than 
15 percent to center-oriented projects, and not more than 
10 percent to community-oriented projects. 

During calendar year 1967, work projects were charged 
with 448 man-months or 39 percent of corpsman time. Fol¬ 
lowing is a summary of the Center's work project values and 
man-months by type of work. 


46 









Calendar year 

1967 work proiects 

Assigned values 

Man-months 


Construction on 

conserva tion 

Amount 

Percentage 

Number 

Percentage 

sites 

Maintenance of 
conserva tion 

$130,000 

79.07o 

344 

76.87o 

sites 

Construction of 
center facili- 

6,050 

3.7 

22 

4.9 

ties 

Maintenance of 
center facili- 

15,200 

9.2 

24 

5.4 

ties 

8,600 

5.2 

38 

8.5 

Community work 

4,800 

2.9 

20 

4.4 


$164,650 

100.07c 

448 

100.07= 


The values assigned to work projects have been a com¬ 
bination of corpsman time valued at about $200 per man- 
month and the estimated cost of General Services Adminis¬ 
tration vehicles, materials, and operation and maintenance 
of Center equipment used on the projects. Actual work 
project costs had not been maintained separately by proj¬ 
ect. Center officials informed us that work project costs 
would be maintained separately for each project starting 
July 1, 1968, to facilitate the determination of project 
values. 

To test the reasonableness of the values assigned to 
work projects, we obtained estimates of value from the Gov¬ 
ernment agencies responsible for the land where two of the 
projects were completed. 

The Cottonwood Lake recreation area is managed by the 
Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, which furnished 
and delivered the materials for construction of the proj¬ 
ect. A Forest Service official advised us that the Cen¬ 
ter’s participation at Cottonwood Lake would have an ap¬ 
proximate value of $50,400. Compared with the estimate, 


47 


























the $34,800 value assigned to this project appears conser¬ 
vative. 

The Rifle Gap access road which was assigned a value 
of $60,000 is managed by the National Park Service. The 
Colltran Center furnished all materials, equipment, and la¬ 
bor for this project. A National Park Service official ad¬ 
vised that the road would have cost them about $60,000 to 
construct, which coincides with the value assigned by the 
Center. However, the value was not supported by indepen¬ 
dent appraisals or separate cost records. 


We proposed that the Director, 0E0, require the Center 
to maintain documentation which would show the method and 
supporting figures used to arrive at the appraisal value of 
work projects. The Acting Deputy Director, 0E0, advised us 
that he was in general agreement with the findings regard¬ 
ing the subject of appraised value. 


48 


EXCESS PROPERTY 


Property excess to the needs of the Center was not 

promptly reported to Job Corps to facilitate better utili¬ 

zation of the property by making it available to other 
units of the Government. To some extent excess property 
was accumulated because the Center received certain prop¬ 
erty from 0E0 without requesting it. The Center, however, 
had apparently not been very active in disposing of un¬ 
needed property. 

An 0E0 report dated December 20, 1967, concerning an 
evaluation of the Center included a comment to the effect 
that excess property was building up and occupying valu¬ 
able space which was at a premium at every center. The 

Center director replied to the valuation report that, dur¬ 
ing the period of January 7 through 12, 1968, a board of 
survey was appointed and excess property was tabulated and 
listed for disposal. Property items with acquisition costs 
totaling $4,715 were declared excess to the Center's needs. 

Another 0E0 evaluation report dated May 14, 1968, 
stated that the Center was still in possession of property 
excess to its needs. Center officials informed us that ad¬ 
ditional surveys had been made and that educational and 
other materials initially costing $2,662 had been identi¬ 
fied as excess to the Center's needs. 

The excess educational materials consisted of books, 
manuals, and testing pamphlets. We were advised by Center 
officials that these materials had been sent to Collbran by 
0E0 although they were not ordered and that most of the ma¬ 
terials received were excess because they were too advanced 
for the reading levels of most corpsmen. 

We noted, in addition to the items surveyed by the 
Center, an electrical bench, a scroll saw T , a portable 
alignment set, and an electronic distributor tester ini¬ 
tially costing a total of $2,556 which were not being used 
by the Center nor being considered as excess property. 
Center officials advised us that this equipment had been 
ordered by the Center in February 1966 for vocational 
training purposes and had been furnished under a contract 


49 








let by OEO. It was subsequently determined that the equip¬ 
ment was not usable in the Center programs. 

The Center director informed us that it was his under¬ 
standing that equipment procured under this contract should 
not be declared excess. However, we later discussed this 
matter with Job Corps officials who advised us that there 
was no restriction on disposing of this type of equipment. 

We proposed that the Director, OEO, advise the Center 
director that unneeded vocational training equipment could 
be and should be declared excess to Center needs and that 
increased effort should be made in disposing of unneeded 
property. 


The Acting Deputy Director stated that OEO concurred 
in this proposal and that emphasis would be given to it by 
management and inspection. He added that the revision of 
funding procedures for budgeting and justifying capital 
items would provide Job Corps, as well as the centers, 
with a more positive control. He stated further that these 
revised procedures would provide a general condition state¬ 
ment as to total center investment and would generate in¬ 
quiries when inventories exceeded modest levels. He added 
that capital inventory levels would be decreased to con¬ 
form to needs identified in annual work plans. 


50 


SCOPE OF REVIEW 


Our field review, which generally covered the period 
from January 1, 1967, to March 31, 1968, was performed for 
the primary purpose of complying with title II of the Eco¬ 
nomic Opportunity Amendments of 1967. Accordingly, our ef 
forts were directed toward an evaluation of the effective¬ 
ness and efficiency of the operation and administration of 
the Center in meeting the objectives of the Economic Oppor 
tunity Act. 

Our field review, made principally at the Center, in¬ 
cluded visits to the offices of the Bureau of Reclamation, 
Grand Junction, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Our 
review included discussions with responsible officials at 
these locations; an examination of pertinent records, leg¬ 
islation, policies, directives, and procedures under which 
the Bureau of Reclamation administered and directed the 
Center; visits to Center project worksites; and interviews 
with some of the youths who were at the Center during our 
review. 


51 





























































































APPENDIXES 


53 













APPENDIX I 
Page 1 


COLLBRAN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTER 
OPERATING COSTS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 1967 


Amount per 



Total 

corpsman 


costs 

man-year 

COSTS APPLICABLE UNDER SECTION 105: 



Enrollee expenses: 



Clothing 

$ 20,843 

$ 219 

Subsistence 

51,025 

536 

Medical and dental supplies and 



services 

29,746 

313 

Educational supplies and rentals 

4,943 

52 

Vocational supplies and rentals 

3,463 

36 

Morale, recreation, and welfare 

10,512 

110 

Total enrollee expenses 

120,532 

1,266 

Operation and maintenance: 



Motor vehicle operation and mainte- 



nance 

44,875 

471 

Center facilities maintenance 

22,948 

241 

Communications 

11,376 

120 

Utilities and fuel 

15,746 

165 

Center administration supplies and 



services 

29.385 

309 

Total operation and maintenance 

124,330 

1 i.306 

Staff salaries: 



Educational personnel 

45,285 

475 

Vocational program personnel 

2,839 

30 

Safety and recreation program person- 



nel 

11,299 

119 

Guidance and counseling personnel 



(note a) 

76,454 

803 

Managerial and other personnel 

78,430 

824 

Work project personnel 

72.537 

762 

Total staff, salaries 

286,844 

3.013 

Staff travel and training: 



Staff travel—training 

4,002 

42 

Staff travel--other 

11,713 

123 

Staff training 

120 

1 

Total staff travel and training 

15.835 

166 


55 
























APPENDIX I 
Page 2 


COLLBRAN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTER 
OPERATING COSTS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 1967 (continued) 



Total 

Amount per 
corpsman 


costs 

man-year 

Enrollee pay and allowances: 

Living allowances 

$ 37,316 

$ 392 

Readjustment allowances 

52,986 

557 

Federal Insurance Contribution Act 

4,046 

43 

Allotments 

23,748 

249 

Meal tickets 

2,339 

25 

Transportation requests 

30,302 

318 

Total enrollee pay and allowances 

150,737 

1,584 

Subtotal 

698,278 

7,335 

Less receipts (note b) 

-8,632 

-91 

Total costs applicable under 

section 105 

689,646 

7.244 

COSTS NOT APPLICABLE UNDER SECTION 105: 

Work project costs: 

Work project supplies 

47,194 

496 

Work project equipment, operation, and 
maintenance 

17,040 

179 

Total work project costs 

64.234 

675 

Depreciation of capital property (note c) 

60,323 

634 

Headquarters and regional support overhead 

(note d) 

83,871 

881 

Total costs not applicable under 

section 105 

208,428 

2,190 

Total costs 

$898,074 

$9,434 


In addition to cost Ior counselors, this amount includes salaries 
of personnel in corpsmen activity branch, e.g., resident youth 
workers and advisors. 

t 

Rental of living quarters to staff and sale of meal tickets. 

Q 

Computed by the straight-line method on the basis of the estab¬ 
lished lives as determined by 0E0. 

u Also includes the cost of agency direction (Department of the In¬ 
terior) and the costs of recruiting, screening, and placement ser¬ 
vices. 


56 

























APPENDIX II 
Page 1 


OFFICE OF ECONOMIC 

OPPORTUNITY 


EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 
WASHIHOTOH, D.C. 205&3 


AUG 8 1969 


Honorable Henry Eschwege 
Associate Director, Civil Division 
U. S. General Accounting Office 
Washington, D. C. 20548 

Dear Mr. Eschwege: 

We have reviewed your May 13 draft "Report to the Congress of the 
United States - Effectiveness and Administration of the Collbran 
Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center under the Economic Oppor¬ 
tunity Act of 1964." 

All items cited in the audit report which require action by the 
Department of the Interior or by Job Corps have been corrected or 
corrective action is in progress. The following specific comments 
regarding recommendations made by the audit team are keyed to the 
appropriate pages in your report. 

Page 12, paragraph 1 . There is adequate evidence that intensive 
training is being provided at Civilian Conservation Centers within 
the cost limitations contained in the legislation. This paragraph 
makes a very narrow interpretation of conservation work. The range 
of conservation work practices currently being accomplished by Job 
Corps includes major road construction, major administrative struc¬ 
tures, public service facilities, bridges, sewage systems, water 
systems, watershed rehabilitation including reservoirs, check dams, 
etc. These projects contain the requirements for training in a wide 
range of skills which, once learned, are highly transferable to 
industrial processing operations. It must be emphasized that conser¬ 
vation work is the by-product of employment skills training and not 
merely conservation work per se. 

Page 12, paragraph 2 . The statement that work projects cannot serve 
as a primary vehicle for teaching vocational skills slights the con¬ 
cept of learning by doing. It places little value on individual 
development through experience. The value of apprenticeship training 
is not recognized. 

Page 12, paragraph 3 (page 13). The auditors express the opinion 
that the Corpsmen should have the opportunity to take part in 


57 





APPENDIX II 
Page 2 


"intensive classroom and work experience programs." The word 
"intensive," as used here, is not clear. Ninety-four percent of 
our young men come to us as functional illiterates. We must, 
therefore, operate an intensive integrated classroom and work 
experience program geared to the communication and accomplishment 
levels of these youth. We cannot agree that vocational training 
should take place solely in the classroom. 

Page 13, paragraph 1 . The auditors questioned whether a remote and 
isolated Center can obtain qualified instructors to operate a voca¬ 
tional skills training program. Job Corps Civilian Conservation 
Centers have not experienced any major difficulty in obtaining voca¬ 
tional instructors. In the case of union-affiliated instructors, the 
AFL-CIO has not experienced any problem. Job Corps Civilian Conserva¬ 
tion Centers have been fortunate in obtaining the services of both 
Civil Service and union instructors skilled not only in their 
professions but qualified, as well, to work with disadvantaged youth. 

Page 13, paragraph 2 and Page 13, paragraph 1 . This statement departs 
from review of a single center. Since we consider it appropriate in 
a review of the Collbran Civilian Conservation Center to make responses 
to that review, we should have liked to confine our remarks to observa¬ 
tions relevant to that Center. However, in light of comprehensive 
nature of the report, we feel called upon to respond accordingly. 

The Civilian Conservation Centers offer to the most underprivileged 
youth a program to achieve changes in attitude. They provide an 
opportunity to improve their academic ability and vocational skills 
in order to function and succeed in society. These youth need resi¬ 
dential training. They come to us with little or no ability in reading 
and mathematics, usually from poor living situations. They have no 
skills that are marketable in our economy. We do not expect a magic 
transformation in the relatively short time that we have to work with 
them. We do, however, know that the Civilian Conservation Centers 
program does provide the climate for rapid improvement and impressive 

gains. 

Pages 20 to 28 (NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT IN THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM) 

Reference to the inadequacy of work projects for skill training fails 
to recognize the on-the-job training concept used throughout industry. 

If all that were necessary to solve the complex needs of these youths 
was a structured, institutionalized setting, these youths would have 
been successful in the traditional school system. It is precisely 
those factors which a highly structured, academic setting does not offer 
which we perceive as essential to helping these youths. They learn on 
the job, and thereby receive the immeasurable personal gratification of 
seeing their work and effort produce something tangible and valued. 

They learn by doing. They learn the necessity for good work habits 


58 






APPENDIX II 
Page 3 


and good personal habits. The result is incalculable. A youth could 
become skilled and still be of little benefit either to society or to 
himself. 

Page 26, paragraph 2. Although Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers' 
main thrust is to train toward occupational areas above the laborer- 
helper category, it is necessary in many trades that the craftsman 
(trainee) move through the laborer category. Many Corpsmen will start 
as general laborers under auspices of union sponsorship and move into 
apprenticeship and journeymen status as they demonstrate proficiency. 

This is a valid concept that has proven necessary to the "growing up" 
process. 

Page 27, last sentence (continued on page 28 ). The observations made 
by GAO on the cited pages parallel the programs and management direction 
we have given these elements of the Civilian Conservation Centers program 
during the past year. We place strong emphasis on vocational training 
in Civilian Conservation Centers. The Task Force Report and the develop¬ 
ment of the training standards referred to by the auditors have served 
as a sound base for many corrective actions. The Work-Vocational Training 
Manual (PM 400-15) provides for systematically planning and coordinating 
the Corpsman's vocational and educational training with work experience. 
This system also provides for subjecting the work projects to a skills 
training analysis and to individual progress reporting on the skills 
learned by each Corpsman. 

The Task Force policy implementation is ensuring a quality vocational 
training program. It has corrected the deficiencies noted by the 
auditors, and it is producing viable vocational training programs. Job 
Corps has restructured its pre-vocational program. This revised program 
is being field tested at present and is scheduled for implementation by 
July 1, 1969. Pre-vocational training will enable a Corpsman to be 
placed in a vocational program that meets his interests and capabilities 
within 30 to 60 days after arrival at the Center. He will be immediately 
involved in this program upon arrival and he will be given the means to 
acquire basic work skills and habits. This system allows for reliable 
selection and assignment of Corpsmen to the vocational programs developed 
under guidance of the PM 400-15 directive. 

In addition to the pre-vocational and vocational training program 
refinements, Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers have contracts 
with the national labor organizations of the Operating Engineers, 
Carpenters and Joiners, Painters and Decorators, and with local building 
trades councils for instructional and program assistance. These re¬ 
sources are providing a high training standard as well as placement and 
post graduation support. 

In summary. Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers has the policies, 
personnel, and management direction nation-wide, to produce strong 
vocational training programs. 


59 




APPENDIX II 
Page 4 


Pages 29 to 40 (NEED TO IMPROVE THE BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM) 


[See GAO note.] 


Pointing out the tine spent in reading and math and leaving the 
implication that these are the sum total of useful education is 
unfair. The other subjects - World of Work, Handvriting, Language 
Skills, Driver Education, Health, etc. - are as necessary to the 
Corpsmen as are History, Geography, Biology, Literature, Humanities, 
and P.E. to a high school student. By adding the time spent on all 
work projects (not just Center work projects) and the time spent on 
support activities (Center operations, doctor and dental appointments, 
etc.) one arrives at an inaccurate comparison to the education figure. 

Another example is found on page 29 where the report states: "Corpsmen 
with reading ability of third grade level or lower were not, contrary 
to Job Corps instructions, given daily reading instructions..." The 
Job Corps instructions referred to were published in the Task Force 
Report (dated May 2, 1968, for implementation by June 30, 1968) and, 
therefore, did not apply during the period of the audit. 

11 

The following quote from the report should attest to the Center's 
commendable compliance with the Task Force instructions, "In the 
early part of 1968, among 88 Conservation Centers, Collbran ranked 
51st in reading progress and 80th in mathematics progress from the 
top, with reported gains of 1.98 and 1.30 in reading and mathematics 
respectively. In April 1969, the Department of Labor announced the 
planned closing of 59 Job Corps Centers. At that time, of the 82 
Conservation Centers, Collbran ranked ninth from the top in both 
reading and mathematics gains with reported gains of 3.05 and 2.87 
in reading and mathematics respectively." 

One point that is often overlooked is the fact that the group living/ 
social development portion of the program constitutes one-half of the 
program. In many instances a reorientation of goals, values, and social 
outlook must take place before academic or vocational training will 
benefit or be of value as far as the individual's assimilation is 

concerned. 

GAO note: Material no longer related to this report has 
been deleted. 


60 



APPENDIX II 
Page 5 


[See GAO note.] 


The National Education Association has given full endorsement to the 
Job Corps program and recognizes this system as the only sizeable pro¬ 
gram in the nation effectively offering reading and skills training to 
the academically-deprived young man. 

The Task Force Report referred to by the auditors provides mandatory 
priorities within the education program. This system has provided a 
basis for major improvement in the education program. 

[See GAO note.] 

Pages 41 to 45 (UNIFORM GRADUATING CRITERIA TO BE APPLIED) 

We agree with the finding. We have been breaking new ground in attempt¬ 
ing to apply standards to a population with a wide range of entry level 
capability. The training standards we have developed are the result of 
experience and we are gaining more experience all the time. We have 
taken positive steps to determine program completion requirements with 
full knowledge that some Corpsmen will complete only a part of the 
requirement. We shall continue to take as many to completion as 
possible. 

Pages 46 to 50 (NEED TO IMPROVE THE COUNSELING PROGRAM) 

We have taken several steps to improve performance in counseling 
individual Corpsmen. We have largely relieved the counselor of a 
massive recordkeeping requirement. This has freed him to do more 
counseling and training of other staff members in counseling Corpsmen 
in accordance with the Corpsman Advisory System. It has not been 
established that regularly scheduled counseling sessions with every 
Corpsman are either necessary or more successful than the counselirig 
system we use. Trained evaluation teams are examining and reporting 
progress at the Centers. They will recommend specific action to 
correct specific problems when a need is discovered. 

Pages 51 to 56 (APPRAISED VALUE OF CONSERVATION PROJECTS) 

We are in general agreement with the findings regarding the subject of 
appraised value. A clear labeling of the projects completed will be 
provided in congressional backup materials. One should not lose sight 


GAO. note: Material no longer related to this report has 
been deleted. 


61 










APPENDIX II 
Page 6 


of the $18.9 million value of all Center work projects. If this work 
had not been done by Corpsmen, substantially more money would have gone 
into contracts to provide the same facility. We would also have lost 
many opportunities to accomplish meaningful on-the-job training. 

Pages 57 to 58 (EXCESS PROPERTY) 

We concur in this recommendation. Emphasis will be given to this 
recommendation by Management and Inspection. The revision of funding 
procedures for budgeting and justifying capital items, including 
review of capital inventories, will provide this office, as well as 
the Centers, with a more positive control. This will provide a general 
condition statement as to total Center investment and will generate 
inquiry when inventories exceed modest levels. We will decrease capital 
inventory levels to conform to needs as identified in annual plans of 
work. 

Sincerely, 



Robert Perrin 
Acting Deputy Director 


62 



APPENDIX III 
Page 1 



UNITED STATES 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20240 


AUG 7 1969 


Mr. Allen H. Voss 

Associate Director, Civil Division 
General Accounting Office 
Washington, D* C. 20548 

Dear Mr. Voss: 

Your draft report entitled "Effectiveness and Administration of 
the Collbran Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center under the 
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Collbran, Colorado, Department 
of the Interior, Office of Economic Opportunity" has been reviewed. 

We are pleased with your evaluation which states: 


"During our review at the Collbran Center we noted 
that the environment appeared to provide an atmo¬ 
sphere conducive to accomplishing the desired re¬ 
habilitation of corpsmen. The Center facilities 
were maintained in an orderly manner and the atti¬ 
tudes, morale, accountability, and discipline of 
corpsmen appeared.to be very good. Corpsmen inter¬ 
viewed generally believed the instructors were good 
and that they were benefiting from the programs." 


The report generally agrees with the recommendations of cur Task 
Force Report of May 1968, which were fully implemented by June 30, 
1968. We feel the method of presentation of the material in the 
report may cause readers difficulty because practices under the 
policies and procedures in effect at the time of your review, and 
those changed subsequently by our Task Force Report, are net 
clearly ■•-differentiated- Some statistical tables, used to support: 
conclusions, average periods prior to and subsequent to changed 
policies; for example, the SAT tests. 


63 




APPENDIX III 
Page 2 


ieei oha. «.ne advances made in programs, curriculum, and pro¬ 
cedures as the result of our Task Force Report will result in 
accomplishing the results that we mutually seek. We agree that 
greater emphasis on vocational-skill training is desirable, as 
is an application of a uniform graduating criteria. 


We appre c 

C C C “ y-» 

given spe 
and onera 


iate the opportunity to review this report draft. The 
need of the improvements you have pointed out will be 
consideration in the continuing overall management 
tional planning for this Center. 



Acting Director of Survey and Review 


64 


APPENDIX IV 
Page 1 


PRINCIPAL OFFICIALS OF THE 
OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 
AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF 
ACTIVITIES DISCUSSED IN THIS REPORT 

Tenure of office 

From To 

OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 

DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OP¬ 
PORTUNITY: 


Donald Rumsfeld 


May 

1969 

Present 

Bertrand M. Harding 

(acting) 

Mar. 

1968 

May 

1969 

Sargent Shriver 


Oct. 

1964 

Mar. 

1968 

DIRECTOR, JOB CORPS: 

William P. Kelly 


Dec. 

1966 

June 

1969 

Franklyn A. Johnson 

(note a) 

Feb. 

1966 

Dec. 

1966 

Otis A. Singletary 

(note b) 

Apr. 

1965 

Dec. 

1965 


DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 


SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR: 


Walter J. Hickel 

Jan. 

1969 

Present 

Stewart L» Udall 

Jan* 

1961 

Jan. 

1969 

UNDER SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR: 

Russell E. Train 

Jan. 

1969 

Present 

David So Black 

Augo 

1967 

Jan, 

1969 

Charles F c Luce 

Sept * 

1966 

Aug, 

1967 

John A. Carver, Jr Q 

Jan 0 

1965 

Sept. 

1966 

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE IN¬ 
TERIOR (ADMINISTRATION): 

Robert C 0 McConnell 

Aug. 

1967 

Feb. 

1969 

Vacant 

Dec. 

1965 

Aug, 

1967 

D. Otis Beasley 

Sept o 

1952 

Dec o 

1965 


65 










APPENDIX IV 
Page 2 

PRINCIPAL OFFICIALS OF THE 
OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 
AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF 
ACTIVITIES DISCUSSED IN THIS REPORT (continued) 


£ 

Served as a consultant to OEO from October 1965 until his 
appointment as Director, Job Corps, in February 1966. 

^Served as a consultant to OEO from October 1964 until his 
appointment as Director, Job Corps, in April 1965. 


PB 2 4 0' m 


66 


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